LEVITATE

As we move away from traditional human-computer interaction techniques like keyboards and mice towards touch (e.g., Smartphones ) and touchless interfaces (e.g., Kinect) our interactions lose physicality. Both touch and touchless interactions lack a controller or interface element that provides meaningful physical feedback. The same holds for voice control interfaces.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Researchers at the University of Sussex and The University of Bristol have become the first in the world to develop technology which can bend sound waves around an obstacle and levitate an object above it. The starting point of our project was to empower the unadorned user to reach into a new kind of display composed of levitating matter. This tangible display allows you to see, feel, manipulate, and hear three-dimensional objects in space. Acoustic levitators are compact electronic devices capable of dynamically levitating objects in three dimensional space.

We would now like to commission two professional artists working with any art form to respond to this ground-breaking project and develop new or existing artwork for a public exhibition. The commissions will form part of the Levitate Art Exhibition and the work will feature as part of the wider Levitate project with the possibility of subsequently touring nationally & internationally.

Artists may choose to feature aspects of acoustic levitation technology prominently in their work. Technical support and hardware can be provided by the University of Bristol or Sussex in this case. Alternatively, artists may choose to respond more conceptually to the theme of levitation - taking inspiration from the technology but not necessarily featuring it directly in the work.

For more information about the technical capabilities of levitation devices please contact Aaron@realworldvisuals.com.

We would like artists to work over a period of 4 months between February 2019 & May 2019 , to research, develop and deliver. The main focus of the delivery of the work will be during the Levitate Art Exhibition held in Bristol during July 2019.

We are open to receiving proposals from individuals, joint applications, collectives of artists or organisations. We aim to support the most exciting, innovative and challenging art work.

We are offering 2 commissions of up to a maximum of £6000 for each artist.